Awkward choice ahead of important game (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
ice hockey
'game' is the definition.
(ice hockey is a kind of game)
'awkward choice ahead of important' is the wordplay.
'awkward' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ahead of' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'important' becomes 'key' ('key' can be similar in meaning to 'important').
'choice' is an anagram of 'icehoc'.
'icehoc'+'key'='ICE-HOCKEY'
(Other definitions for ice hockey that I've seen before include "Sport with puck" , "Team game played with long sticks" , "Violent sport, big in North America" , "Game played by skaters with a puck" .)